Spirit vial assembly with self aligning vial means

ABSTRACT

A spirit vial assembly which includes a frame comprising an elongated channel having parallel side walls and a connecting web extending transversely between the side walls. The side walls and the web form a recess. A transparent cover member is provided which includes a plurality of members projecting from the inner surface thereof. An arcuate vial is provided which is of substantially cylindrical cross-section having longitudinally convex and concave outer surfaces which are disposed on diametrically opposite sides of the vial. The vial is disposed between the members with the convex surface of the vial abutting the inner surface of the cover. The web has a pair of projections which abut the concave surface of said vial adjacent but inwardly of the end thereof so that the vial need not be further aligned with respect to the web to determine the horizontal orientation thereof.

United States Patent [191 Ostrager SPIRIT VIAL ASSEMBLY WITH SELF-ALIGNING VIAL MEANS [76] Inventor: Seymour A. Ostrager, 1188 Grand Concourse, Bronx, N.Y. 10452 [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 79,937

[ 1 June 26, 1973 Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Phillips Attorney-Caesar, Rivise, Bernstein & Cohen 57] ABSTRACT A spirit vial assembly which includes a frame comprising an elongated channel having parallel side walls and a connecting web extending transversely between the side walls. The side walls and the web form a recess. A transparent cover member is provided which includes a plurality of members projecting from the inner surface thereof. An arcuate vial is provided which is of substantially cylindrical cross-section having longitudinally convex and concave outer surfaces which are disposed on diametrically opposite sides of the vial. The vial is disposed between the members with the convex surface of the vial abutting the inner surface of the cover. The web has a pair of projections which abut the concave surface of said vial adjacent but inwardly of the end thereof so that the vial need not be further aligned with respect to the web to determine the horizontal orientation thereof.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 SPIRIT VIAL ASSEMBLY WITH SELF-ALIGNING VIAL MEANS This invention relates generally to spirit vial assemblies and more particularly to a spirit vial assembly which includes means for self-aligning the vials within the spirit vial assembly so that further alignments are unnecessary to enable determination of the horizontal orientation of the assembly.

Because of the physical configuration of spirit vials, inexpensive vial assemblies are very inaccurate. That is, the spirit vial is normally of the type which is arcuately formed so that the spirit vial includes a longitudinally extending concave surface and a longitudinally extending convex surface which are disposed on diametrically opposed sides of the outer surface of the vial. The convex surface of the spirit vial is, of course, disposed upwardly and the concave surface is disposed on the lowermost surface of the spirit vial so that the bubble in the spirit vial is caused to be at the center of the top of the vial if the spirit vial is disposed substantially horizontally. One of the problems, however, in forming a spirit vial is that it is difficult to maintain uniformity of the radius of the arcuate surface between the normal end wall of the vial and the cylindrical side wall. That is, this arcuate end surface can vary considerably in radius so that when the lowermost surfaces 'of the spirit vial abut a horizontal surface, the vial is not necessarily accurately aligned to determine the horizontal orientation of the assembly due to the fact that the radius at each end of the vial may vary from each other. In most cases, the radii at each end are different and, therefore, the spirit vial is not aligned when it is placed on the horizontal surface.

Due to this'variation in radius at the ends of the spirit vial, adjusting means must normallybe provided with an arcuate type spirit vial in order to assure that there is alignment for determining horizontal orientation. However, such adjusting means add considerably to the cost of making a spirit vial level assembly and, therefore, the most inexpensive levels dispense with the adjusting means, and, therefore, have a large potential of being misaligned with respect to horizontal orientation.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved spirit vial assembly which includes means for self-aligning the spirit vial.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved spirit 'vial assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture. v

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved spirit vial assembly which is suitable not only for determining thehorizontal orientation of a flat surface but also the horizontal orientation of.a

string.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a spirit vial assembly which includes a frame comprising an elongated channel. The channel has parallel sidewalls and aconnecting web which extends transversely between the side walls. The side walls and the web form a recess. A transparent cover member is provided which includes a plurality of members which project from the inner surface thereof. An arcuate vial of substantially cylindrical cross-section having longitudinally extending convex and concave outer surfaces which are disposed on diametrically opposed sides of the vial is also provided. The vial is disposed between the members with the concave surface of the vial abutting the inner surface of the cover. The web has a pair of projections which abut the concave surface of the vial adjacent but inwardly of the ends thereof so that the vial need not be further aligned with respect to the web to determine the horizontal orientation thereof.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the follow ing detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the spirit vial assembly embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 with the spirit vial shown in full.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawing wherein similar reference numerals refer to similar parts, a spirit vial assembly embodying the invention is shown generally at 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The spirit vial assembly basically comprises a cover member 22, a frame 24 and a pair of spirit vials 26 and 28. The cover member 22 is transparent and is preferably comprised of a moldable thermoplastic such as lucite. The cover member is substantially rectangular and planar and includes a pair of depending rectangular end flanges 30 and 32.

Provided inwardly of and also depending from the top wall of the cover member 22 are a pair of cylindrical projections 34 and 36. Each of the projections 34 and 36 includes a vertically extending opening 38 which extends through the entire projection and the top surface of the cover member 22. As will be seen hereinafter, the opening 38 acts to receive a threaded member for securing the frame 24 to the cover member 22.

Also depending from the lower innermost surface of the cover member 22 are a plurality of pin like projections 40, 42, 44, 46,48, 50, 52 and 54. The projections 40 and 42 act to position laterally, in conjunction with pin 44, the vial 26. As best seen in FIG. 1, pin 44 is of an elongated cross-section and acts to position boththe vial 26 and the vial 28. In addition to pin 44, pins 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54 act to position the vial 28 against lateral movement.

Each of the pins 40 through 54 includes a longitudinally extending laterally projecting nib 56. It should be noted that the nibs 56 are provided at the positions on the pins at which the pins contact the side walls of the vials 26 and 28. The small nibs enable a slight give in the material due to the small cross-sectional area thereof so that when the vials are pressed between their associated pins, there is give at the nib. That is, the nibs deform in order to accommodate the vials.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the frame 24 which is preferably comprised of extruded aluminum includes a pair of side walls 60 and 62, a transversely extending web 64 and a pair of elongated depending flanges 66 and 68. The web 64 is closely spaced from the lowermost surface of the side wall. The flanges 66 and 68 depend to and the bottom edges thereof are aligned with the lowermost surface of the side walls 60 and 62.

The web 64 and the side walls 60 and 62 act to provide a recess into which the vials 26 and 28 fit. On the lowermost surface of the web 64 between the projections 66 and 68, a recess is defined which acts to receive a magnetic tape 70 which is preferably secured to the lowermost surface of the web by a pressure sensitive adhesive which enables the spirit vial assembly to be secured to any ferromagnetic surface.

As also best seen in FIG. 4, the cover member 22 includes a pair of hook members 72 and 74. Hook members 72 and 74 project upwardly from the top surface of the cover 22 at opposite ends and, as best seen in FIG. 1, the hook members extend from opposite lateral sides of the cover member.

Each of the hook members is generally triangularly shaped and includes a cut out portion which defines a U-shaped recess 73 for the accommodation of a string. it should be noted that recesses 73 are aligned with openings 38 in the cover member 22. The alignment of openings 38 with the recesses 73 in the hook members facilitates molding of the cover member 22.

The hook members 72 and 74 are utilized in combination with string in order to determine whether the string is oriented horizontally. The bottommost surface of the frame 26, that is, the lowermost surfaces of the side walls 60 and 62 and the bottommost surface of flanges 66 and 68 provide a flat surface for the magnetic vial assembly which is utilized to be placed on a planar surface for determining the horizontal orientation thereof. It should be noted that the web 64 is parallel to the surface formed by the plane extending through the lowermost edges of the side walls 60 and 62 and the flanges 66 and 68.

The vials 26 and 28 are both of the type that are cylindrical in cross-section and arcuately shaped longitudinally. The bend of the arcuate longitudinal axis of the vials is circular with the radius of curvature being approximately four feet. It can, therefore, be seen that the topmost surface 76 of both vials 26 and 28 is convex whereas the bottommost surface 78 of each of the vials 26 and 28 is concave in the longitudinal direction. The topmost and bottommost surfaces are, of course, diametrically opposed from each other.

The longitudinally extending surfaces 76 and 78 of the vial are disposed against the bottom surface of the cover member 22 and the top surface of web 64 of the frame 24, respectively. It should be noted, however, that because of the construction of the spirit vials, the frame 24 is provided with a pair of upwardly extending projections 80 for each via] 26 and 28.

Projections 80 for via] 26 are provided adjacent the ends of vial 26 but spaced inwardly thereof, as best seen in FIG. 4. Projections 80 for spirit vial 28 are also provided adjacent the ends of spirit vial 28 but spaced inwardly thereof. The projections 80 are so disposed with respect to the vials that they abut the cylindrical longitudinally extending outer surface of the vials.

The reason for the projections being specifically adapted to abut the'cylindrical surface of the vials is so that the vials are positioned accurately with respect to web 64 of the frame 24 so that each of the vials is properly aligned to determine horizontal orientation of the lower surface of the frame 24.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the projections 80 are formed by impressions made in the lowermost surface of the 7 web 64 of frame 24. Provided at each end of the frame through the web 64 are openings 82 through which a pair of self-tapping fasteners 84 extend for securing the frame 24 to the cover member 22. The opening 38 in cylindrical projections 34 and 36 act to receive the threaded fasteners 84 and enable securement of the frame to the cover member. The magnetic strip is provided over the ends of the threaded fasteners and the portion of the web 64 between flanges 66 and 68. The magnetic strip is preferably secured to the web by a suitable pressure sensitive adhesive which is conventionally provided on one flat surface thereof.

As best seen in FIG. 5, when the bottommost surface of the frame and, thus, web 64 are horizontally oriented, the bubble 84 in each of the spirit vials 26 and 28 is centered between the centering lines 86 of the spirit vials 26 and 28.

As set forth above, the projections abut the cylindrical surfaces of the spirit vials 26 and 28. It should be noted that the projections, thus, act to space the arcuate ends 90 of the spirit vial from the web. As also set forth above, the arcuate ends 90 tend to be varied in radius due to the method by which the spirit vials are formed. Accordingly, because of the fact that the cylindrical surface of the spirit vials are very uniform and, thus, have very close tolerances, the projections 80 act to automatically align the vials 26 and 28 so that the bubbles will be between lines 86 when the web 64 is horizontally oriented.

It should be noted that the spirit vials 26 and 28 extend transversely with respect to each other, however, both are adapted to measure the horizontal orientation of the web in the same plane. That is, the spirit vial 26 acts to determine the horizontal orientation of the transverse direction of the plane through which web 64 extends whereas the vial 28 determines the horizontal orientation of the longitudinal direction of the plane through web 64.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention that others may, ing current or future knowledge readily adapt for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

l. A spirit vial assembly including a frame comprising a pair of parallel side walls and a connecting web extending transversely between said side walls, said side walls and said web forming a recess, an elongated transparent cover member disposed on said frame for covering said recess, said cover member including a top wall having parallel opposed inner and outer surfaces and including a plurality of flexible members projecting from said inner surface thereof into said recess, at least one spirit vial being disposed between and in contact with adjacent ones of said projecting members, said adjacent members holding said vial in place, said cover member further including a pair of end walls which are integral with and extend transversely to said top wall of said cover member to close off the ends of said recess in said frame, said cover member further including a pair of hook members which are integral with said cover and are adapted to engage a string to determine horizontal orientation thereof, and a pair of openings in said cover member, each of said openings being aligned with a recess in said hook members to facilitate molding of said cover member, said openings accomy p ythe same modating a fastener for securing said frame to said cover member.

2. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 wherein two of said spirit vials are provided, one of said vials extending longitudinally of said frame and the other of said vials extending transversely to said first vial.

3. A spirit vial assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spirit vial is arcuate and of substantially cylindrical cross-section having longitudinally convex and concave outer surfaces which are disposed on diametrically opposed sides of said vial, said vial being disposed between adjacent projecting members with the convex surface of said vial abutting the inner surface of said cover, said web having a first pair of projections which abut the concave surface of said vial adjacent but inwardly of the end thereof so that said vial need not be further aligned with respect to said web to determine the horizontal orientation thereof.

4. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 and further including a second arcuate vial which is mounted in said assembly between the inner surface of said cover member and a second pair of projections which abut said second vial adjacent but inwardly of the ends of said second via].

5. The spirit vial assembly of claim 4 wherein said second vial extends transversely with respect to said first via].

6. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 wherein said frame includes a pair of longitudinally extending flanges which are spaced inwardly of said side walls but depend from the bottom surface of said web, said flanges and said web forming a recess, and a magnetic strip, said magnetic strip being secured to said web between said flanges in said recess.

* I t 1O! 

1. A spirit vial assembly including a frame comprising a pair of parallel side walls and a connecting web extending transversely between said side walls, said side walls and said web forming a recess, an elongated transparent cover member disposed on said frame for covering said recess, said cover member including a top wall having parallel opposed inner and outer surfaces and including a plurality of flexible members projecting from said inner surface thereof into said recess, at least one spirit vial being disposed between and in contact with adjacent ones of said projecting members, said adjacent members holding said vial in place, said cover member further including a pair of end walls which are integral with and extend transversely to said top wall of said cover member to close off the ends of said recess in said frame, said cover member further including a pair of hook members which are integral with said cover and are adapted to engage a string to determine horizontal orientation thereof, and a pair of openings in said cover member, each of said openings being aligned with a recess in said hook members to facilitate molding of said cover member, said openings accommodating a fastener for securing said frame to said cover member.
 2. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 wherein two of said spirit vials are provided, one of said vials extending longitudinally of said frame and the other of said vials extending transversely to said first vial.
 3. A spirit vial assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spirit vial is arcuate and of substantially cylindrical cross-section having longitudinally convex and concave outer surfaces which are disposed on diametrically opposed sides of said vial, said vial being disposed between adjacent projecting members with the convex surface of said vial abutting the inner surface of said cover, said web having a first pair of projections which abut the concave surface of said vial adjacent but inwardly of the eNd thereof so that said vial need not be further aligned with respect to said web to determine the horizontal orientation thereof.
 4. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 and further including a second arcuate vial which is mounted in said assembly between the inner surface of said cover member and a second pair of projections which abut said second vial adjacent but inwardly of the ends of said second vial.
 5. The spirit vial assembly of claim 4 wherein said second vial extends transversely with respect to said first vial.
 6. The spirit vial assembly of claim 1 wherein said frame includes a pair of longitudinally extending flanges which are spaced inwardly of said side walls but depend from the bottom surface of said web, said flanges and said web forming a recess, and a magnetic strip, said magnetic strip being secured to said web between said flanges in said recess. 